Quo Vadimus—Redux

Abstract

The ICES Journal of Marine Science has been published continuously since 1903, albeit under several different names, making it one of the oldest marine science journals (Anderson, 2012). The Journal has had a series of accomplished Editors-in-Chief (EiC). I have held that role since 2012 (Browman, 2012), and will continue for a second 5-year term, through 2021. My purpose here is to recount how the Journal has developed during my first term as EiC, and to lay out where we are headed in the next 5 years. I am very proud of what has been achieved for the Journal during the past 5 years. This includes: expanding the topical depth and range of Editors and of content so that they match the ICES strategic plan and track ICES strategic initiatives as well as developments and hot topics in marine and fisheries science; launching the Quo Vadimus article type; increasing the number of Food for Thought articles in order to stimulate debate; launching the “luminaries” series of autobiographical essays; growing article submissions from 350 to >600 per year (and from more countries) while at the same time achieving very competitive article handling times; increasing the profile of/interest in the Journal (as reflected by a huge increase in PDF downloads); and taking the Journal’s competitive position to its highest level ever, with a 2015 Journal Impact Factor that exceeds that of many of its closest competitors, including Marine Ecology Progress Series, for the first time ever. At the same time, and while recognizing that there is always room for improvement, we have put an emphasis on earning credibility and respect for the Journal by striving to be service-oriented, ethical, fair, transparent, accountable, accessible, responsive, fast, efficient, decisive, diplomatic, constructive, consistent, merit-based, and humble (including admitting to being fallible). In that context, the Journal has been publishing what our Editors see as high-quality articles that are original, of broad interest, and which contribute to our knowledge and understanding of the sea. The Journal currently distributes about 65% of submitted articles for review and the overall acceptance rate is 37%. The Editorial Board will continue to work towards publishing only science of the highest quality and interest. Authors interested in submitting articles to the Journal should consult the document, “How to get published in the ICES JMS”. Since efficient, effective and fast handling of articles is critical in today’s competitive scientific publishing environment, the Editorial Board and Editorial Office have worked hard to achieve decision times of <40 days from submission. Oxford University Press (OUP), The Journal’s publisher, offers “online first”, so articles appear online as soon as the proofs have been approved by the author, with their final digital object identifier. The average time between final acceptance and online publication is about 5 weeks. Our goal is to offer authors an industry-leading standard of turn-around times, presentation, and accessibility. With respect to the latter, all articles published in the Journal are made freely available after only 1 year. The Journal holds a strong position with its core community. That strength will be maintained and leveraged to further expand the Journal’s reach. We strive to make the Journal an obvious and preferred choice for authors, including those outside what may still be seen as the ICES core community. This includes making greater inroads with the biological oceanography and marine ecology communities, as well as the socioecological systems and human dimensions communities, among others, in both the University and Institute sectors. The Editorial Board will further expand to track these developments, as well as to reflect the evolution of marine and fisheries science. The Journal will continue to actively “stake a claim” to emerging subject areas. This is manifested in the following list of initiatives – ICES-sponsored Symposia, supplemental issues, and article theme sets - underway and planned. Beyond connectivity (2017) Operationalizing and implementing the ecosystem approach (2017) Towards a broader perspective on ocean acidification research—part 2 (2017) Targets and limits for long term fisheries management (2017) Marine socio-ecological systems (2017) Sixth zooplankton production symposium (2017) Biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (2018) Challenges of managing the globalisation of fisheries (2018) Ecosystem studies of subarctic and Arctic seas (2018) Marine protected areas—point/counter-point (2018) Bioinvasion trajectories (2019) Fourth Symposium on climate change and impacts on the world’s oceans (2019) Sustainable use of Baltic Sea resources (2019) The essay series by luminaries in the fisheries and marine science community already includes contributions from Brian Rothschild, Emory Anderson, Ken Sherman, Daniel Pauly, Ken Able, and Ray Hilborn. Essays by Kevern Cochrane and Marc Mangel are forthcoming, and more will follow. I close with words drawn from Emory Anderson's history of the Journal (Anderson, 2012): “The ICES Journal of Marine Science enjoys a rich heritage and owes its present high stature in the world of marine science to many individuals, be they authors, reviewers, Editors, publishers, or ICES staff. All can claim a share of the credit for the manifold jobs well done”. H.I.B’s editorial work for the ICES Journal of Marine Science is supported by the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, Project no. 83741 (“Scientific publishing and editing”).